A French court has sentenced former anaesthetist Frédéric Péchier to life imprisonment after convicting him of deliberately poisoning dozens of patients by injecting toxic chemicals into medical infusion bags, causing at least 12 deaths and leaving many others fighting for their lives.
Péchier, 53, was found guilty on Friday following a four-month trial in the eastern French city of Besançon, in what has been described as one of the most disturbing medical crime cases ever heard in France. The court ruled that Péchier intentionally tampered with patients’ infusion bags during routine surgical procedures, triggering sudden and often catastrophic medical emergencies.
According to the verdict, Péchier introduced dangerous substances such as potassium chloride and adrenaline into the infusion bags of at least 30 patients. These chemicals caused cardiac arrests, severe haemorrhaging, and other life-threatening complications while patients were under anaesthesia.
Twelve of the victims died as a result of the poisonings. The youngest victim was a four-year-old child who survived two cardiac arrests during a tonsillectomy in 2016, while the oldest victim was an 89-year-old patient undergoing surgery.
Delivering a damning assessment of the former doctor’s actions, prosecutors told the court that Péchier had betrayed the very foundations of the medical profession.
“You are Doctor Death, a poisoner, a murderer,” prosecutors said during closing arguments. “You bring shame on all doctors. You have turned this clinic into a graveyard.”
Investigators revealed that Péchier’s actions followed a disturbing pattern. In many cases, patients suffered sudden medical crises during otherwise routine operations, forcing surgeons and medical staff to intervene urgently. Péchier, who was often not the primary anaesthetist assigned to the procedure, frequently appeared during these emergencies, diagnosing the crisis and administering treatment.
Prosecutors argued that this allowed him to present himself as a hero and saviour, stepping in at critical moments to “rescue” patients from complications he had deliberately caused. However, in at least 12 cases, Péchier was either unable to intervene or arrived too late, resulting in the patients’ deaths.
The prosecution further argued that Péchier’s motive was rooted in resentment and professional jealousy. He was accused of attempting to discredit fellow anaesthetists by creating medical disasters that appeared to stem from their negligence. In most of the cases, Péchier was not scheduled to oversee anaesthesia but allegedly arrived early to tamper with infusion bags before surgeries began.
Suspicion first emerged in 2017 after a woman suffered a cardiac arrest during back surgery at the Saint Vincent private clinic in Besançon. Medical staff discovered abnormally high levels of potassium chloride in her infusion bag, raising concerns of deliberate contamination.
As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a troubling statistical pattern. While the national average for fatal cardiac arrests under anaesthesia in France stood at approximately one in 100,000 cases, the rate at the Saint Vincent clinic was more than six times higher.
Even more alarming was the discovery that the sudden medical emergencies appeared to follow Péchier’s movements. When he temporarily worked at another medical facility, that clinic experienced a spike in similar incidents. Upon his return to Saint Vincent, the emergencies resumed. After Péchier was struck off the medical register in 2017, the unexplained incidents stopped entirely.
Throughout the trial, Péchier consistently denied any wrongdoing. Addressing the court, he maintained his innocence and rejected the prosecution’s claims.
“I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a poisoner,” he told the judges. “I have always upheld the Hippocratic oath.”
Despite his denials, the court found the evidence overwhelming, citing expert testimony, medical records, statistical analysis, and witness statements that pointed to deliberate and systematic poisoning.
The judges sentenced Péchier to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 22 years before he can apply for parole. He has been given 10 days to lodge an appeal against the verdict.
For survivors and families of the victims, the ruling brought a measure of relief after years of trauma and uncertainty. Sandra Simard, one of the survivors, described the verdict as the end of a long and painful ordeal.
“It’s the end of a nightmare,” she said following the sentencing.
Another survivor, Jean-Claude Gandon, echoed those sentiments, saying the conviction would allow families to begin healing.
“We can have an easier Christmas now,” he said quietly.
The case has sent shockwaves through France’s healthcare system, prompting renewed debate about patient safety, oversight, and the mechanisms in place to detect medical malpractice and criminal behaviour within hospitals.
Medical associations have expressed sympathy for the victims while stressing that Péchier’s actions represent a gross violation of medical ethics and an extreme abuse of trust.
As France grapples with the implications of the case, authorities have pledged to strengthen monitoring systems to ensure that similar crimes cannot go undetected in the future.
For now, the life sentence handed down to Frédéric Péchier marks the conclusion of a case that has left an indelible scar on the French medical community and raised profound questions about trust, accountability, and justice.
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